Celtic Christianity
Synod of Whitby

Across northern Europe, particularly Ireland and Scotland, a religion immersed in the natural world arose at some unknown point in history when the glaciers had left and people found their way once again to these northern reaches of sea and land.

Central to Celtic  thought was the close relationship between the "other world", the divine; and the land and the waters where springs, rivers and hills were inhabited by spirits. The sea, ever near, influenced everything.

Early in the Christian time, believers apparently came with the Roman armies, likely before 200 a.d., and settled in the far reaches of the frontier. It is known that when Pope Gregory sent Roman monks to convert the English, missionaries from Ireland were already present. An entire Celtic Christian community had been developing without any formal guidance from headquarters. Monasteries were built on many of the islands surrounding the coasts of Scotland, Wales and Ireland. The Celtic missionaries saw their tradition as based and rooted in the Apostle John. The monks shaved their heads differently than monks related to the Roman church and the date for Easter differed from the Roman based schedule. .

Conflict was inevitable. As the Roman Empire collapsed, the Roman Church was filling the void. It was in 597 a.d. that Gregory sent St Augustine to Christianize Britain. He found that in Northumbria  Scottish and Irish missionaries from St Aidan and  Iona were already present. A great problem was that the Celtic and Roman Church had a disagreement over the date of Easter. So it was that in 664 a.d. a conference was called at the Monastery of St Hilda at Whitby. King Osway along with Bishops Colman and Chad represented the Celts. Alchfred, son of Osway and Bishops Wilfred and Agelbert represented Rome. The actual issue was not the date of Easter but whether the Celtic church should link its fortunes with the growing organization of Rome or the loosely compacted Irish church.

Rome prevailed at the Synod of Whitby.  Rome brought regularity, discipline. organization and moderation. The Celtic tradition brought asceticism, fervor, simplicity, humility and holiness.

A fictional story of the Synod of Whitby is created by Peter Tremayne in Absolution by Murder *.  The drama of this period of time offers much to the creative mind. 

The Wesleyan movement beginning with John and Charles Wesley in 1700's Great Britain picked up some of the Celtic Christian strands of belief and practice. In particular the hymns of Charles Wesley present Celtic influence in their attention to the cosmic creation, the world sky-sea-wind-cloud-sun, human passions, vivid descriptive words/concepts and the orderly daily life. This was in contrast to the Reformation from the continent with its 
fierce presentation of the The Written Word as of elemental importance over and above all natural life. 

The Church in 2005 has interest in many traditions that have expressed the Christian way in unique manners. The sacred times of the early Celts marked the seasons. An example of the interface between tradition is that Christians adopted the  harvest time festival on August 1 and called it Lammas. It had been called Lugnasad by the Druids and is so called today by Wicca and other neo pagans. Awareness and celebration of nature was an alien thought to some Christian leaders in early times. However, many Christians found the natural world to be evidence of the mind of God.

A growing number of Christians are discovering again what their Celtic ancestors knew well - the handiwork of the creator is a cause for thanksgiving and a school of learning.

Sources
*  www.celticorthodoxy.org/index.shtml - a gathering of information on present efforts to grasp the genius of the Celtic tradition from a Celtic Orthodox perspective..  
* The Catholic Encyclopedia 
* Absolution by Murder  Peter Tremayne  Signet Book   1994
* Synod of Whitby http://www.wilfrid.com/Wilfrid_pilgrimage/Whitby_synod.htm  
* The Synod of Whitby Reserve  One contemporary expression of the Celtic Christian way. 
* The Hymns of Charles and John Wesley
* Time in History: Views of Time from Prehistory to the Present Day by G. J. Whitrow (1988 Oxford Press) present valuable information on the Synod of Whitby and points out that Venerable Bede in his Ecclesiastical History, chapter 24,  presents an account of what took place at the Synod. 

                                              A Theology of the Sea